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The Exchange to Pau with a tour through
France from September 30th to October 12th 2009
The simple title „We are off then“ is not sufficient
to describe the tour of Friendship Force Varel through France. Although
they repeatedly had some crossings with the Campino de Santiago
there was no commonality with the content of the book from H. Kerkeling.
It was a unique experience with totally independent travel parameters.
For 13 days the 43 members of FF Club Varel toured approximately
5000 km with a bus through France and were impressed by the landscape
of the Normandy and Brittany and although they had a deep knowledge
about littoral formations the chalk cliffs of Etretat, the Abbey
of Mont St. Michel or Europe’s largest drifting sand dune,
Dune de Pilat, at the Atlantic coast between La Rochelle and Biarritz
represented unforgettable recollections for them.
During the majority of time two consecutive professional guides
were explaining all sightseeing highlights like Castles, Cathedrals
and natural spots and also explained lifestyle and habits of the
French people.
In the city of Pau, which located at the basis of the Pyrenees between
the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea, there was a hearty reunion
between half of the travel group and the hosts from Friendship Force
Pau who had been visiting Varel in 2007.
Together with the friends from Pau they experienced the Pyrenees
as mountains with an own character and some even took the chance
to dive into the breaking surfs of the Atlantic Ocean at the beach
of the Basque city of Bayonne.
The group favoured the aromatic French cheese from the particular
cows in the North or the sheep of the Auvergne as well as the French
wine that proved the quality not only as Bordeaux or San Emilion
but also from Bearn, the upper Loire and as Corbiere.
The tour continued from the Mediterranean via the Massif Central,
passed the modern bridge designed by architect Forster, Viaduc de
Millau, to the city of Clermont-Ferrand.
By the visits of the Chateaus Chambord and Chenonceau the travellers
were prepared for the stay in the French Capital. So at the end
of the tour the planning offered the opportunity to the Friendship
Force friends from Varel to take a deep breath of the charming atmosphere
of the Metropolitan city of Paris.
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